Sterling weakened across the board after Bank of England Governor Mark Carney hinted yesterday that a rate hike in May was not a done deal. Speaking on the fringes of the IMF meetings in Washington (at 17.00 London time), Carney said that while a rate hike this year was still likely, the timing was open to discussion. He pointed to soft retail sales, business confidence and inflation data and to the negative impact of Brexit on UK investment, productivity and growth. Carney seemingly wants to give his Monetary Policy Council the option of keeping rates on hold at the 10th May meeting and with this in mind the first estimate of Q1 2018 GDP, due for release on 27th April, will be key.
